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In case you haven’t been paying attention, zombies are pretty much everywhere. In fact, they’re so widespread in the entertainment portion of our culture that one famous actor even thinks we’re on the brink of an epidemic. In an interview with the HuffingtonPost.com, living legend Morgan Freeman said that he believes “[we] may already be in the midst of a growing zombie apocalypse.” Fair enough. He also said that we have all become so obsessed with these undead creatures because of “our desire for immortality.” He may have a point there, though it’s one more existential than simply stating what may be the obvious at this point: zombies cannot, and will not, be stopped.

Seriously, let’s take a quick look back at the television side of things, where these brain-noshing jerks have invaded a number of networks. The most prominent and well-known example, of course, is The Walking Dead, the acclaimed series that centers on survivors making their way through a zombie apocalypse. That’s an obvious example, though, and one that neglects to mention, say, Castle‘s run in with these particular monsters. They also showed up on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which Katie Hart discussed in an article on the episode “Dead Man’s Party” a few years back.

The zombies outbreak goes well beyond the small screen. In terms of feature films, it would be a thankless task to even simply list the zombie movies that have been released in the past decade alone. That’s partially because there are a plethora of B-movies out there that cashed in on the craze surrounding these monsters. That being said, there have been plenty of notable releases with zombies at the center of it all. They include the Brad Pitt-starring World War Z (2013), the fantastic kids’ movie ParaNorman (2012), and the flat-out hilarious Zombieland (2009) that featured Woody Harrelson and Jesse Eisenberg. If this sort of thing tickles your cinematic fancy, you should probably check out Boston.com for their list of the best zombie movies ever released.

There are then the various zombie-themed franchises running rampant through both cinema and another branch of entertainment: video gaming. You’d probably have to be living under a rock (for at least 10-15 years, at this point) to not have heard of the Resident Evil series and its many games, books, movies, etc. But it’s not the only zombie-heavy gaming content to sweep over the industry. One can simply look to arcade hub Intercasino.com for several examples of the undead further crossing over into mainstream popularity. Namely, they host a goofball, family sitcom-inspired game, “The Zombies,” in addition to a survival horror-leaning experience, “Zombie Rush.” The latter falls somewhere between what you’d expect from Resident Evil if it had less of a we-want-to-scare-the-pants-off-you vibe.

So what, then, does this mean for the connection between entertainment and the undead moving forward? Plenty, it would seem. Given the popularity of The Walking Dead and everything else mentioned here, it’s extremely doubtful that we’ve seen the last of the zombies for, at the very least, the next several years. That’ll be particularly true if that Walking Dead spinoff can capture the same fire as the original.

Rick Sanchez is a longtime zombie enthusiast who’s constantly researching what to do if the undead actually do take over the world. He lives in New York with his girlfriend and two dogs, Frank and Gizmo.

Round four of the tournament concludes with Buffy the Vampire Slayer, who pulled out a last-minute win yesterday, facing social media savvy Beauty and the Beast. Also, Will & Grace has their toughest battle yet against still-popular Friends.

These round four polls will be open for about 72 hours, so be sure to spread the word quickly if you want your favorites to make it to the next round! After this round, only 2 dramas and 2 comedies will remain to compete, first for the top drama/comedy, and then for the May Madness champion! As always, you can find the links to all the current matchups on our main post. Please try to vote in all the polls, not just the one with your favorite show!

May Madness - Drama, Round 4.2

Beauty and the Beast (66%, 184 Votes)

Buffy the Vampire Slayer (36%, 100 Votes)

Total Voters: 279

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May Madness - Comedy, Round 4.2

Friends (83%, 132 Votes)

Will & Grace (18%, 28 Votes)

Total Voters: 159

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These round four polls will be open for about 72 hours, so be sure to spread the word quickly if you want your favorites to make it to the next round! As always, you can find the links to all the current matchups on our main post. Please try to vote in all the polls, not just the one with your favorite show!

For our last matchups of round three, genre favorites Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Supernatural do battle, while Will & Grace faces The Dick Van Dyke Show!

These round three polls will launch every other day, and be open for about 72 hours, so be sure to spread the word quickly if you want your favorites to make it to the next round! As always, you can find the links to all the current matchups on our main post. Please try to vote in all the polls, not just the one with your favorite show!

May Madness - Drama, Round 3.4

Buffy the Vampire Slayer (87%, 469 Votes)

Supernatural (36%, 196 Votes)

Total Voters: 539

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May Madness - Comedy, Round 3.4

Will & Grace (73%, 214 Votes)

The Dick Van Dyke Show (56%, 163 Votes)

Total Voters: 292

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Feel free to leave a comment about which show(s) you voted for and why! I may quote your comment in a Facebook post or tweet promoting this poll. Also, there may be a bit of a lag if a lot of people are voting, so make sure the first poll finishes loading your results before submitting your vote for the second poll!

In our next-to-last post of round two, we have two teams who fight the creepy (whether supernatural or human), Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Criminal Minds, do battle, while Will & Grace goes up against Hogan’s Heroes!

These round two polls will be open for about 72 hours, so be sure to spread the word quickly if you want your favorites to make it to the next round! As always, you can find the links to all the current matchups on our main post. Please try to vote in all the polls, not just the one with your favorite show!

May Madness - Drama, Round 2.7

Buffy the Vampire Slayer (68%, 30 Votes)

Criminal Minds (32%, 14 Votes)

Total Voters: 44

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May Madness - Comedy, Round 2.7

Will & Grace (53%, 20 Votes)

Hogan's Heroes (47%, 18 Votes)

Total Voters: 38

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Feel free to leave a comment about which show(s) you voted for and why! I may quote your comment in a Facebook post or tweet promoting this poll! Also, there may be a bit of a lag if a lot of people are voting, so make sure the first poll finishes loading your results before submitting your vote for the second poll!

Round one is nearing its close! This time, just canceled Community faces WWII comedy Hogan’s Heroes – while they might be a bit jealous of the classic show’s six seasons, Community did pay homage to Hogan and his crew in an episode (and I wouldn’t count out a sixth season just yet!). Also, Dark Angel (no, not Angelus) battles Buffy the Vampire Slayer!

These polls will be open for about 72 hours, so be sure to spread the word quickly if you want your favorites to make it to the next round! As always, you can find the links to all the current matchups on our main post. Please try to vote in all the polls that have shows you like, not just the one with your favorite show!

May Madness - Comedy, Round 1.14

Hogan's Heroes (51%, 19 Votes)

Community (49%, 18 Votes)

Total Voters: 37

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May Madness - Drama, Round 1.14

Buffy the Vampire Slayer (73%, 27 Votes)

Dark Angel (27%, 10 Votes)

Total Voters: 37

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Feel free to leave a comment about which show(s) you voted for and why! I may quote your comment in a Facebook post or tweet promoting this poll! Also, there may be a bit of a lag if a lot of people are voting, so make sure the first poll finishes loading your results before submitting your vote for the second poll!

At last, it is time for the 64 TV shows YOU chose to battle it out for the best TV show of all time! Over the next few weeks, shows will face each other in 72-hour single elimination matchups! Everyone who responded to my question about whether to have comedies and dramas mixed throughout the tournament preferred to have the genres battle it out separately and the top comedy and top drama face each other in the final match, so that’s what we will do!

This post will be your go-to reference for current and upcoming matches, so be sure to bookmark it and check back daily! I will add the links as the posts go up. Or, subscribe to our RSS feed to get the latest posts!

And now we’re starting round three, as the remaining 16 shows face off! The lists will be completed as the round one matchups finish, and links to each new poll will be added after they go live! Each of the round three posts will contain two matchups: one drama battle and one comedy battle. All polls will be open 72 hours.

These will be the matchups for round one. This list was randomly generated, and each of the round one posts will contain two matchups: one comedy battle and one drama battle. I may post several times in a day during this first round so that this bracket won’t go too far into June, but all polls will be open 72 hours. If any of the choices below seem impossible, remember, your decisions will only get more difficult as the tournament progresses! Have fun!

I love TV-related bracket tournaments. What I don’t love is said tournaments leaving out so many great shows (yes, Hulu, I’m looking at you), and not giving TV fans a chance to pick which shows are included.

So in preparation for TV Breakroom’s May Madness bracket tournament, you, this site’s readers, get to choose which 64 shows will battle it out for the best show of all time!

I’m dividing this competition into four sections (though the bracket itself will be randomized), between past and present shows, as well as comedies and dramas. Present shows will include renewed shows and any shows that have aired episodes October 2013 or later (even if they have since been canceled). Comedies will include all 20-30 minute shows, while dramas will include 40 minute plus shows, even if they are very funny. So Psych, which you might consider a past TV comedy, will actually be among the present TV dramas. Each of these 4 sections will have their own nomination poll, in consecutive weeks. Last week’s poll selected great comedies like M*A*S*H, Friends, and 14 others!

This site’s typical guidelines (scripted, live-action, primetime shows) apply. So don’t look for (or nominate) The Simpsons, Whose Line is It Anyway?, or daytime soaps. Online shows like those created by Netflix and Amazon are eligible, web series with episodes shorter than 20 minutes (no matter how much we love The Guild) are not. Shows must have aired either a full season or at least 5 episodes to be eligible as well.

Especially for these past show nomination rounds, there are dozens of shows that aren’t included in the 100+ options below. Feel free to nominate any great ones I missed, and if they meet the guidelines I’ve outlined above, I will add them to the poll.

This poll will be open for one week, and you can vote for up to 20 of your favorite past TV dramas. Be sure to spread the word so your favorites will make it into our bracket tournament next month!

Without further ado, here’s the poll for this week’s May Madness nominations! Voting ends around 12AM April 21st, and the top 16 will make it into our bracket. Update: The three-way tie for 16th place was broken by a one-day Facebook poll, and Veronica Mars secured the last spot!

Which past TV dramas deserve to be in our May Madness bracket? (Choose up to 20!)

This Monday Madness, vote for your favorite hero/villain duos! The hero of any TV show, whether comic-book-based, sitcom, or procedural drama, always faces opposition in the pursuit of his/her goals. Often, that opposition comes from the people around our hero. But sometimes, one opposing person stands out from the crowd. They may be a twisted version of our hero, or just amazing at being evil. But you can be sure that an epic battle (of wits, weapons, or fisticuffs) is about to begin!

The pairs below are some of the more popular hero/villain duos, along with several nominated by readers of this blog. Which are your favorites? Go forth and vote!

Also, this poll is not as limited as previous ones – feel free to include older shows and villains who aren’t around for very long – just be sure to nominate ones that make an impression!

This poll will be open for one week, and you can choose up to 5 of your favorite TV hero/villain duos. Be sure to spread the word so your favorites will win!

I had a hard time coming up with duos for this list, and I know there are many more epic heroes and villains out there! As always, you can cast write-in ballots by leaving a comment, and if I receive several nominations, I may add them to the poll! Want more of a say in what makes it onto the poll each week? Be sure to follow me on Twitter, since I usually ask for nominations for the next Monday Madness the weekend before the new poll. Stay tuned – I have something special in mind for the rest of April and May!

Without further ado, here’s the poll for this week’s Monday Madness! Voting ends around 12AM April 7th.

It’s hard to believe it’s been 9 years since Doctor Who returned to TV with the airing of “Rose”. The modern show feels like such a part of British culture that I can’t imagine the BBC without it.

It’s also difficult to realize that it’s been less than 18 months since I got into the show. Like with my first watching of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, I was initially so-so about the show, a bit put off by the weirdness (whether aliens or vampires) and the cheesy special effects. Then the characters started to grip me, a plot twist blew my socks off, and the show became my new favorite!

I haven’t blogged much about Doctor Who since catching up with the modern show, thanks to a busy job and dying computer. And now that I have no job and a new computer, there are no new episodes to blog about. But that hasn’t meant that I’ve not been sharing my love of Doctor Who with the world. Just check out my British TV board on Pinterest, nearly 3,000 pins strong and focusing mostly on the Doctor (be wary of Doctor Who and Sherlock spoilers if you’re not caught up!). I also have a lot of Doctor Who on my Tumblr. I’ve introduced the show to many people and have started to collect quite a bit of DW-related paraphernalia.

Here’s a promo from the first series of the rebooted show – I would have loved the chance to watch this when it first aired!

Since our last poll featured TV brothers, now it’s time to vote for TV sisters!

Sisters seem to be a lot less common on TV than brothers. Like the previous poll, I only included more recent shows (2000-present, hence the absence of the Huxtable sisters), and included both half- and step-sisters (but not sisters-in-law). There are some slight spoilers for a few shows (two characters actually being sisters, a sister being still alive to be in multiple episodes, etc.).

I also did not include sisters when one of them is only in a handful of episodes. For example, Robin Scherbatsky’s sister Katie is only in 2 episodes (so far). My general rule of thumb was going with sisters who had both/all been in at least 1/3 of the episodes. Be sure to keep that in mind with any nominations!

The winner of last week’s poll was Dean and Sam Winchester of Supernatural! Second place went to the Holmes brothers (Sherlock), followed by Klaus and Elijah (The Originals), Damon and Stefan (The Vampire Diaries), and Pete, Derrick, and Randy (Enlisted)!

This poll will be open for one week, and you can choose up to 5 of your favorite TV sister duos (or trios). Be sure to spread the word so your favorites will win!

Even though there are many options on this list, I know there are sisters I left out! As always, you can cast write-in ballots by leaving a comment, and if I receive several nominations, I may add them to the poll! Want more of a say in what makes it onto the poll each week? Be sure to follow me on Twitter, since I usually ask for nominations for the next Monday Madness the weekend before the new poll.

Without further ado, here’s the poll for this week’s Monday Madness! Voting ends around 12AM March 17th.

TV news for next season is starting to heat up, and I’m back to blogging about it as I try to make sense of what’s going on, share the joy of new projects seeing the light of day, and rant about pilots not picked up.

TNT ordered 10 episodes of two new series I’ve been excited about for a while, thanks to one key role and a decent premise. Adam Baldwin’s The Last Ship features a previously-isolated crew racing to find a cure for a global pandemic. Sean Bean’s Legends has the CIA’s top chameleon operative suffering a break with reality amid his many covers.

I watched both trailers for the new shows (which the above loglines are based on), and both seem slightly different from their original premises. I’m not sure if it’s that, or the fact that my TV watching time has been drastically cut, but I’m less excited about these projects than I was initially. Both are going into my “wait and see the reviews/ratings” box for now, and I imagine they’ll stay there for a while. Now that Leverage is over, the only veteran show I’m watching on TNT is last year’s Perception, which was unique and well done enough to stay on my “to watch” list. (I should really make these into real lists and share them – perhaps after upfronts?)

Fox has ordered 4 dramas and 4 comedies (to add to the already-picked-up Dads, which got expanded from 6 to 13 episodes), quite a lot for a channel that doesn’t program anything from 10-11.

Out of the eight, I’m most excited about Enlisted, a military comedy starring Geoff Stults, Chris Lowell, and Parker Young (who play three brothers). Stults won me over completely in The Finder and I also enjoyed his reoccurring role on Ben & Kate, so I’d be at least previewing almost any new show he would be cast in. I’m sad to see that Young will be leaving Suburgatory, since I love his character on that show, but I’m glad he’ll have more of a starring role in this project. Lowell I know mainly as Piz from Veronica Mars, so I’ll have to get a new opinion of his acting now that he won’t be getting in the way of one of my favorite TV couples.

For the other comedies, Us & Them seems the one I’m most likely to watch, with Gilmore Girls’ Alexis Bledel returning to TV and a fun premise: a long-distance relationship with family and friends butting in. Brooklyn Nine-Nine puts a comedy spin on a cop show, and Surviving Jack stars Christopher Meloni. Dads may also warrant a preview, as Seth Green (Oz from Buffy the Vampire Slayer) plays one of the two guys whose fathers move in with them.

I’m disappointed Delirium didn’t get picked up to series. While the sci-fi premise was a bit hokey (a procedure to remove love?), it reminded me of Ted Dekker and Tosca Lee’s novel Forbidden. And I enjoy Emma Roberts’ acting.

I doubt I will watch any of Fox’s new dramas. I may check out Almost Human (an android/human buddy cop show) if the trailer leans more toward sci-fi than cop drama. Rake has Greg Kinnear, but I’m not piqued by a law drama take on House. The story of Sleepy Hollow never interested me, and Gang Related just seems like another cop show with a conflicted loyalties twist (and medical drama with a conflicted loyalties twist worked out so well for The Mob Doctor).

2012 was a great year for me in regard to uncovering awesome TV shows. It may even top 2011, when I got pulled into Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Bones, Warehouse 13, Eureka, and Veronica Mars, not to mention enjoyed great new fall shows like Once Upon a Time, Grimm, Suburgatory, and Person of Interest.

My top eight new shows for 2012 are also a mix of brand new and new-to-me shows. Like with the list above, this year wasn’t always my first exposure to the shows in question, but 2012 was the year they hooked me. I’m listing the shows in roughly chronological order of getting sucked in.

The Finder

This short-lived Fox drama (so many awesome shows can say the same thing) caught my attention as a companion show to Bones – not quite a proper spinoff as none of the main characters from Bones joined the new show. But with a planted pilot, same showrunner, and guest appearances by Bones cast, the tie was definitely there. Geoff Stults (as Walter) and Michael Clarke Duncan (as Leo) hit it out of the park on day one, but the ratings didn’t match the show’s awesomeness. Fox also aired the episodes out of order, threw in a month-long hiatus in March, and moved the show to the Friday death slot – starting Easter weekend!

From the beginning, the show felt like it should have been airing on USA Network – it had the same breezy, pop-culture-riddled sensibilities as Psych, and would have been a perfect fit for their “Characters Welcome” brand. But in the end, the cancellation of the show was moot, as Michael Clarke Duncan, who as Leo was the heart of the show, passed away over the summer.

I’m still waiting for the DVD set to become available, but at least The Finder introduced me to the amazingness of actor Geoff Stults, who I’m currently enjoying as a reoccurring cast member on Ben and Kate. Sadly, that show also airs on Fox, and I’ve learned not to get attached to anything airing on that network now.

True Blood

Buffy and Being Human showed me that shows about vampires are cool. So to feed my bloodlust, I decided to try out this buzzy HBO show, not really expecting to like it – keeping things PG-13 is more my style, and I’m not a fan of the deep south. But checking out episode one led swiftly to two, and three, as each twisty cliffhanger glamoured me into watching more. Short season meant catching up in time for season 5, and while this show is fairly low on my list of vampire TV shows, it’s addicting enough that I’ll keep coming back.

Happy Endings

There’s a dearth of good comedy over summers, so I decided to give this recommended show a try in late August, and quickly grew to love the quirky group.

The Vampire Diaries

After catching up on True Blood, I decided to try out the last major vampire show currently airing that I hadn’t seen. Plus, I was looking at writing a book with a high school setting and vampires trying to control their urges, and I wanted to make sure it was different enough from this show. The pilot bored me, but I heard later that the rest of the show was a vast improvement, so I dove in during September, and caught up on all three seasons within 3 weeks, just in time for the season 4 premiere.

Like True Blood, the fast-paced storylines made the show insanely addictive, but in this case, the characters and relationships became an even bigger draw. Damon’s struggle with what sort of person to become, Elena’s compassion without weakness, Stefan’s dual nature, Caroline’s ditziness turned to strength, Alaric’s unlikely allies becoming the family he always wanted, and more.

Elementary

No, it’s not Sherlock, but it doesn’t have to be – I love both shows, and Jonny Lee Miller makes an amazing Holmes. Making Watson female, setting the show in NYC, and coming up with new stories instead of revamping the classics all help differentiate this show. And with us getting only 4 1/2 hours of Sherlock every 18 months or so, there’s plenty of room for a fun, quirky drama like this. I enjoy the recovering addict twist, and Joan Watson’s slower progression to teaming up with her client.

Arrow

Aside from Alphas, TV has been sorely missing a good superhero show, and in the wake of The Avengers’ popularity, the Batman trilogy’s gritty conclusion, and America’s obsession with bow-toting heroes, Arrow is exactly what was wanted. While there are still a few rough edges on this new drama (dialogue could use some help), great ratings will give it time to truly soar.

Doctor Who

I always knew I would eventually watch this show. I purchased digital editions of series 1 and 3 back in 2010, and watched a few episodes here and there, but didn’t get hooked. I watched a couple more earlier this year, and in November started liking the show more and more. In December, I started marathoning through Doctor Who in earnest, as most shows were going on hiatus and I had more time. I rewatched season 1 with my sister (and liked it a whole lot more the second time) around Christmas, and caught up with the whole show (excluding classic Who) a few days after the New Year.

Torchwood

I bought the first two series of Torchwood in 2010 also, and despite some misgivings about the show’s adult content, I liked the character of Jack Harkness from Doctor Who enough to give the show a try (and keep all the crossovers in their proper places). As a result of watching the two together, it’s hard to separate Torchwood as a distinct show in my mind. It’s the only show on this list I’m not current with, as I still have 6 episodes left of the Miracle Day mini-series. It’s definitely a more serious show (during various episodes I found myself longing for the more lighthearted Who), morality is a bit grayer, and quite often there isn’t a happy ending. But it definitely grows on you, and there are quite a few exceptional episodes.

It’s hard to believe Christmas will be here in about a week! One of my favorite parts of the season are the awesome holiday episodes shows put out, and now it’s your turn to vote for your favorites! I purposely saved this poll for right before Christmas so I could add in some of 2012’s holiday episodes.

Fans have used Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, forums, Reddit, Pinterest, blogs, and chatboxes to get the word out about past polls. Our toolbar at the bottom of the page has lots of quick links to help you share this post, or you can mouse over the image above!

I know I’m missing some of your favorite Christmas episodes, so feel free to nominate more episodes on our Facebook page, tweeting me at @waterfallbooks, or by leaving a comment below. Please include both the show and episode name, and yes, you can nominate this year’s holiday episodes! (Be sure to stick with live-action, scripted shows, though it’s fine if just this one episode has some animation, like with a certain Community episode.) Please only nominate Christmas episodes that are part of a regular show, not one-off specials like “A Charlie Brown Christmas” or movie-related specials like “Shrek the Halls.”

Without further ado, vote for up to fifteen of the episodes below! Poll will close Sunday night, December 23rd, giving you one week to spread the word!

Which TV show has the best flashbacks? That’s the question you get to answer in this week’s poll! Flashbacks add depth to current storylines and allow us to understand characters’ motivations, and range from heartrending to hilarious.

You can nominate shows missing from the poll below, but be sure the show has a significant amount of flashbacks to be included. The show should have a minimum of two episodes with a large portion of the episode as flashback, preferably more, and they should have some impact on the story/characters (a brief explanation would be appreciated!). I’ve added some flashback explanations to a few of the shows in the poll, but they are to jog your memory, not represent every flashback in the show. (One more note – I’ve put Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel as one option since their flashbacks revolve around the same characters for the most part.)

Fans have used Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, forums, Reddit, Pinterest, blogs, and chatboxes to get the word out about past polls. Our toolbar at the bottom of the page has lots of quick links to help you share this post, or you can mouse over the image above!

Our next poll will be favorite Christmas episodes! Feel free to nominate episodes on our Facebook page, tweeting me at @waterfallbooks, or by leaving a comment below. Please include both the show and episode name, and yes, you can nominate this year’s holiday episodes!

Without further ado, choose up to ten of the shows below, but be sure to vote based on how awesome the flashbacks are! Poll will close Friday night, December 15th, giving you about a week and a half to spread the word!

Update – here are some pics I’ve edited to promote the poll! Now you have additional images you can pin on Pinterest, or you can share them on Tumblr, Facebook, and more! I’m working on getting more for the other shows, but you can help out by creating your own!

We have our winners! Our favorite TV couples ultimate showdown has ended, and now it’s time to see which couples garnered the most votes from you, their fans!

You may notice there’s “2012” at the end of the title above. That because I’ve decided to make this TV couples poll an annual event! Things will change up a little each year. I also plan to continue the spring polls with more specific categories, though I will probably change those the most – maybe divisions for comedies and dramas, or by networks. Stay tuned!

Three of these couples did not make it into their division’s top 10, yet managed to improve their rank against increased opposition. Couples from the realistic division dominated this round, winning 6 of the 10 slots and the top two spots by a large margin. None of the wildcard additions made it into the top 10, with most situated close to the bottom (Nick and Jess from New Girl, despite not being an official couple, made it the highest of the newbies – #19).

Speculative couples got a lot of shakeup from last poll to this one. Once Upon a Time had 3 couples in the top 10, now they have none. Whedonverse shows had a decent showing with 2 couples from Firefly and one from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but none got to the top 10 in this poll. Even the winner of that poll barely garnered a hundred votes this time around.

The realistic couples were much more steady. Each of the five shows represented below also had couples in the top ten of the spring poll, though there was a bit of shuffling as to who from each show made it in.

#10 – Barney and Robin from How I Met Your Mother

This time, How I Met Your Mother fans preferred this destined-to-happen couple (don’t you love those HIMYM flash forwards?) over the rock-solid Marshall and Lily (which were #9 in the realistic show poll) by more than 100 votes. In the spring poll, they were less than 50 behind their friends for a #12 finish.

#9 – McGee and Abby from NCIS

Like Barney and Robin, this NCIS couple just missed making it into the top ten in the spring (#11), but got a better rank this year while getting about the same number of votes. (Hmm, I would who would win if we combined votes? Nah, too much math for me, but you’re welcome to figure that out and post it in the comments!)

#8 – The Doctor and Rose from Doctor Who

I can appreciate this couple more now that I’m partway through season two of the show. Their rank dropped from a #4 in the speculative poll, though they managed to garner an additional hundred votes this time around.

#7 – Booth and Brennan from Bones

In the spring poll, this couple was #6 and was joined by their coworkers Angela and Hodgins at #10. Pretty impressive that they only slipped one spot in the ranking against more competition.

#6 – Scully and Mulder

This couple was ranked #13 in the speculative poll, but the original shippers rallied and got them a spot in the top 10 this time.

#5 – Arthur and Gwen from Merlin

This couple stayed rock-solid in the ranks, earning the #5 spot both times. In this poll, they received 250 more votes, perhaps an acknowledgement of the fact that we soon will be bidding them farewell. In my mind, they tie McAbby for the most adorable couple in this top ten.

#4 – Derek and Meredith from Grey’s Anatomy

This couple made a dramatic comeback in the final days of this poll, going from #32 to #4 in less than 4 days. They also improved over their rank (#5) in the spring poll.

#3 – Elena and Damon from The Vampire Diaries

This couple jumped from #6 in the speculative poll, probably aided by the current plotlines on the show. It’s interesting to note – the day that poll ended was when I tried watching the pilot, probably influenced by how many people had voted for Elena and Damon. (Although it didn’t hook me, I watched 5 episodes in one evening when I gave the show another chance 3 1/2 months later.)

#2 – Tony and Ziva from NCIS

This couple remained at first and second place for most of the poll’s run, and lost by only 123 votes, a marked improvement from their #4 spot in the spring poll. With Tiva heating up, I wouldn’t be surprised if they win next year.

#1 – Castle and Beckett from Castle

The top favorite couple in the realistic division won a much closer race to again emerge victorious! While the spring poll coincided nicely with the season finale that brought these characters together, it’s great to know fans still love Caskett even with the will they/won’t they tension gone.